When it comes to updating a room in our homes, flooring is by far the biggest expense we have to consider. It can also make or break a successful room scheme, so it’s important to choose it wisely.

In recent years, vinyl (and in particular LVT – Luxury Vinyl Tiling) has made a huge comeback and it’s not hard to see why. With an incredible range of colours and designs, teamed with a very reasonable price tag, vinyl flooring is proving to be a popular choice amongst home renovators and interior decorators, particularly those looking to update a tired space on a budget. It’s also straightforward to install, easy to maintain and more hardwearing than ever before, so if you’re planning a room revamp and want to keep your costs down, it may just be the ideal solution for you.

I had a look at some vinyl offerings recently and have found some gorgeous examples of how it can work in all kinds of home interiors – I defy you not to be secretly impressed!

Eagerly awaited by Scandi interiors enthusiasts across the country (yours truly included), this month IKEA has launched an exciting collaboration with Danish design duo, HAY.

The YPPERLIG collection boasts a variety of products hallmarked with the HAY signature design combining functionality with aesthetics. In store, you’ll find everything from sofas to coffee tables, even the iconic IKEA blue bag has been given a HAY makeover!

The YPPERLIG collection also includes cushion covers, coffee tables, chairs, hand painted vases, lamps and simple, multifunctional sofas, but which to put in your trolley next time you visit? Here are my favourite pieces which are definitely on my shopping list…

It seems like a juxtaposition in terms, the words scandi and boho appearing in the same sentence, however it appears that the clean, defined lines of scandi design and the eclectic artfulness of boho marry beautifully. Just type ‘scandi boho’ into Pinterest or Google Images and your eyes will immediately be met with a feast of stunning images of home interiors typifying this trend. It’s no surprise this easy to live with look has become the defining interior mood for 2017 and I absolutely love it!

The Scandinavian and bohemian decor moods have a lot in common when you think about it … lots of trailing greenery, natural wood surfaces and an emphasis on texture (think sheepskin rugs) and pattern (boho ethnic or scandi geometric). By combining these two styles, a minimalistic scandi-inspired interior can be warmed up with colour and texture, just as a busy, eclectic interior can be pared down and streamlined a little with white painted walls or monochrome touches.

If you believe you can never have too many houseplants or vintage rugs in your home, this could well be because you’re already channeling this look. However, for the rest of you who simply aspire to it thanks to an Insta-feed of swoon worthy scandi-boho room shots, but don’t have the confidence to try it out yet, read on to find out how to work it successfully in your own home!

I’m one of those people who impatiently await the arrival of autumn. The first fire of the season, leaves turning brilliant shades of red, orange and yellow, woolly socks and jumpers down to your knees – I love it all! On the home front, I also love taking the time to embrace autumn in all its cosy glory by bringing out the sheepskin throws, woven blankets and scented jar candles, filling up the log basket and adding seasonal foraged pieces such as pinecones and dried seed heads into large bowls or vases.

I was therefore delighted to be recently chosen to take part in an autumn home project as part of my involvement in the Home Experts Community at Wayfair.co.uk. They asked myself and nine other bloggers to take on an Autumn Colour Challenge, whereby we update an area of our home with some seasonal autumn colour to make it wonderfully inviting for the cooler months ahead.

You’ve not been on the planet lately if you haven’t noticed ‘The Paper Bag’ or ‘Le Sac en Papier‘ popping up in all the coolest interiors shots. This simple storage bag made from recycled craft paper has become a somewhat iconic product in its own right, with its ecologically friendly properties and stylish practicability. It can be used as a wastepaper bin, storage bag or plant holder, its only real limitation being your imagination!

Having decided this was definitely something I needed in my life (I mean, who doesn’t need a designer brown paper bag?!), I picked one up whilst on holiday in France this year, though they are widely available in the UK, too. I’ve been experimenting with its different uses, however a quick nose on the Internet has opened up this little fellow’s true style capabilities and I thought why not share these ideas with you lovely people.

So, to give you a mini project for the weekend ahead (because you will go off and buy one now, won’t you?!), here are five ways to style your ‘Le sac en papier’ once you get your hands on it…

When we moved into our house just over 18 months ago, the bathroom was one room we decided would be left on the long finger as it was in an acceptable state, having only been installed and decorated by the previous owners about seven years ago. There’s nothing really wrong with it, it’s just that it’s not to our personal taste, however it’s not hideous either. The overall layout works well and everything is in very good working order, but I just felt that a few little updates here and there would go a long way in modernising it and make it more our own.

It was when I recently caught myself standing at a garden centre checkout with a Maidenhair Fern proudly packed into my basket, that I realised just how much of a plant ‘obsession’ I have developed in the past year. Even as little as two years ago, I would not have been caught dead purchasing such an old-fashioned plant – the Maidenhair Fern, with its delicate showers of lacework leaves suspended from long, spindly stems, was the plant of choice for my grandmother’s generation, often found sitting on a bathroom window ledge or hall console table. It was not the choice of interior accessory that someone remotely youthful (even as remotely as I) would contemplate as a must-have in their home… and yet, here I am, pleased as punch with this most recent addition to my growing plant family.

Greenery of all shapes and sizes is really in the interior spotlight just now. In fact, no room scheme is complete without a plant tucked in there somewhere, so as someone who is firmly in Team Green, I wanted to show you some ways you can use plants in your own home to solve a common interior decor dilemma or simply to complete a room scheme.

It seems that our interiors are getting darker and darker, with more of us taking the plunge and painting our home interiors in dark, inky hues of indigo and blue-grey, be it our living room walls, kitchen units or in the bedroom. It’s a look that has certainly grown on me, however when recently thinking about our own bedroom decor, I’ve realised that no matter how much I love the concept of a decadently dark and elegant boudoir, I simply can’t bring myself to paint our lovely, light, south-facing bedroom in anything other than WHITE!

It won’t be any old Brilliant White, you understand… I’m pondering and pontificating over paint charts full of grey whites, blue whites, green whites, off whites and almost whites. In fact, I have come to the conclusion that this may actually be the hardest colour of all to pick for a room scheme!

Anyway, it got me thinking that I haven’t posted a ‘Take 5’ article on here for a while, so in an effort to help me settle on a shade of white, here are five all white rooms for you which are so lust-worthy, they’ll make you wonder why EL James didn’t name her book Fifty Shades of White Rooms…

Hello, hello! Ahhh, it’s so good to be back on here after my July break – we spent almost three weeks camping in France, some of which I tried to share via my Insta feed, however those of you who have had a similar kinda holiday will know how difficult wifi can be to search out!! Maybe that’s a good thing in disguise? It is however nice to be home again, back in our little bubble that’s home.

One thing we decided whilst we were away was that we needed to start thinking about our plans for our bedroom. It’s practically the only room in the house that we haven’t touched, however the bare floorboards (I took it upon myself to pull up the tatty old carpet some months ago – don’t even ask), jumbled together furnishings and partly wallpapered walls simply need to be tackled head-on! It’s reached the stage of no turning back, folks…

Which brings me to writing this post. I have a few ideas scrambling around in my brain about the kind of bedroom I want and three keywords keep popping back up: tranquil, light, scandi. So I figure this is where it’s at! Every successful interior scheme begins with a simple moodboard, often created and grown from something as simple as a few key words or singular item in a room, and I always find them a fascinating insight into the direction an interior project is headed, so I want to share mine with you, along with some interior inspiration gathered up from Pinterest and, of course, a look at a handful of always-so-covetable shopping items from my ever-expanding wish list (it WILL become a short-list, eventually, I promise!). Why not follow the planning process with me and hopefully I’ll be paintbrush firmly in hand come September!

With our recent hallway makeover painting and decorating completed, I’ve been turning my attention to all the extras that need to be decided on – lighting, rug, hall accessories, that type of thing, so I thought well, why not pull together a little wish list of products I have my eye on? Like most of us, budget is key, so in many ways this is a longterm wish list, however I’ve no doubt it’ll be nothing short of great fun scouring online stores, the humble high street and, of course, secondhand treasure troves for the ideal accessories to complete the look of what is an often overlooked, but centrally very important, room of the home.

I’ve been shopping from inside my home a little bit too; a habit I believe we should all get into, because after all, why shouldn’t an ornament, lamp or favourite chair not be moved around once in a while? It instantly refreshes a room or corner, allows you to be creative in finding new uses for a piece of furniture and (most importantly) it costs zilch.

Actually, I want to write a blog post solely dedicated to the art of shopping from within your own home, as it’s become trendy to stick to a capsule wardrobe and wear your old clothing in new ways, so why not transfer this line of thought to our home interiors, too? Keep an eye out for that one…

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Hi! My name's Keira and welcome to Dekko Bird, a space where I share my love for interior design and affordable home styling. I'm an interiors stylist, writer and blogger based in Belfast with my husband and three children. It's lovely to meet you x